On Wednesday 24 January, the head of the European Union Military Committee, General Mikhail Kostarakos, regretted that the EU is not involved militarily in Ukraine.
"I regret there is no involvement, in any form, in Ukraine", he told two MEPs in the European Parliament's security and defence sub-committee (SEDE), adding that there had been no political resolve for it.
The EU only has a civil advisory mission, EUAM Ukraine, which is helping reform the security sector (see EUROPE 11908), but no military mission, despite a request from the EU dating from February 2015 for an EU police mission to ensure that the ceasefire in the east of the country is respected (see EUROPE 11257).
"EU forces are not involved at all. The only thing that can be done to support our partners on the ground is to invite their leaders to our meetings", Kostarakos stated, adding that the Europeans were trying "always to be abreast of the situation on the ground".
A few minutes later, Bulgaria's deputy minister for defence, Atanas Zapryanov (see other article) underlined the political role of the EU. "Ukraine must be supported from a political point of view, and then NATO has a role to play. It does it by supporting Ukraine in capacity strengthening and training armed forces", he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)